Kilmar Abrego Garcia was stripped naked, had his head shaved, was beaten, forced to kneel for hours overnight, and lost over 30 pounds during his time at the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador, his attorneys say in a new court filing.
Abrego, of Maryland, was deported to El Salvador in March by the Trump administration in an “administrative error” and was returned to the U.S. in June to face federal charges. At the time of his removal from the U.S., Abrego was protected from deportation by a 2019 court order.
His high-profile case was pushed into the national spotlight, sparking a heated debate over Trump’s immigration crackdown and the race to deport people, at times without due process.
Abrego was deported to El Salvador on March 15 and placed into CECOT, a megaprison known for its brutal conditions.
There, he was allegedly subjected to severe beatings, sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition and psychological torture, his attorneys said in an amended complaint filed Wednesday. That complaint is part of a federal lawsuit filed by Abego’s wife against the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The complaint states that upon arrival at CECOT, Abrego was forced to strip, issued prison clothing, kicked in the legs with boots and struck on his head and arms to change faster. His head was also allegedly shaved, and he was frog-marched to a cell while being hit with wooden batons.
The following day, he had “visible bruises and lumps all over his body,” the complaint said.
In that cell, he and 20 other Salvadorans “were forced to kneel from approximately 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion,” the filing said. During that time, Abrego was denied bathroom access and soiled himself, according to the complaint.
The inmates were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in overcrowded cells without windows and bright lights that stayed on 24 hours a day, the complaint says.
While there, prison officials repeatedly told Abrego that “they would transfer him to cells containing gang members who, they assured him, would ‘tear’ him apart,” the complaint says.
The attorneys said Abrego observed prisoners violently harm each other without staff intervention.
“Screams from nearby cells would similarly ring out throughout the night without any response from prison guards or personnel,” the complaint says.
In his first two weeks, he lost 31 pounds.
On April 9, the complaint says, Abrego and four others were transferred to a different module in CECOT. But the next day, he was transferred alone to the Centro Industrial prison facility in Santa Ana, El Salvador.
Throughout his time in El Salvador, his lawyers say, Abrego was denied any communications with his family and access to counsel until Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., visited him on April 17.
The Supreme Court ruled in April that his removal was “illegal” and determined that a judge’s order for the administration to facilitate his return was proper.
Abrego was ultimately returned to the U.S. on June 6, following a contentious back-and-forth between the court and the Trump administration that raised concerns about defiance of the judicial branch.
The government has repeatedly accused the 29-year-old of being involved with the gang MS-13 — claims Abrego’s family and attorneys have denied.
His attorneys say Abrego, who is from El Salvador, left the country when he was around 16 years old to flee gang violence. In 2011, Abrego entered the U.S. without inspection and stayed in Maryland, where his older brother, a U.S. citizen, lived, the complaint said.
In the Wednesday filing, attorneys for the Abrego family ask Judge Paula Xinis to rule that over the course of this entire ordeal — from the time he was picked up in that Maryland parking lot to when he was returned to the U.S. — the government violated laws, and his Fifth Amendment right to due process.
They also want Abrego returned to Maryland and separately want a habeas corpus hearing held in Maryland.
When Abrego returned last month, the Justice Department said he would face human smuggling charges in Tennessee. He is accused of transporting people not legally in the U.S. within the country.
He allegedly participated in a conspiracy over nine years to move people from Texas deeper into the country, including members of MS-13, the Trump administration said.
Abrego’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, has insisted that he was not involved in criminal activity.
“Kilmar worked in construction and sometimes transported groups of workers between job sites, so it’s entirely plausible he would have been pulled over while driving with others in the vehicle,” his wife previously said in a statement. “He was not charged with any crime or cited for any wrongdoing” at the time.
The family’s attorney, Chris Newman, previously said the Trump administration’s efforts are part of a “campaign of disinformation, defamation against Kilmar and his family.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia padeció tortura psicológica y física en la prisión CECOT, afirman sus abogados
Según un nuevo escrito judicial, Abrego —residente de Maryland— fue desnudado, rapado, golpeado, forzado a arrodillarse durante horas en la noche y perdió más de 13 kilos durante su reclusión en la célebre megacárcel salvadoreña.
La Administración Trump lo deportó a El Salvador en marzo por un “error administrativo”; en junio fue retornado a Estados Unidos para enfrentar cargos federales, pese a contar con una orden judicial de 2019 que lo protegía de la deportación.
Su caso —de gran repercusión mediática— avivó el debate sobre la ofensiva migratoria de Trump y la prisa por expulsar a personas, a veces sin el debido proceso.
Tras su llegada el 15 de marzo, Abrego ingresó a CECOT, conocida por sus condiciones brutales. Allí, sostienen sus abogados en una demanda enmendada presentada el miércoles, sufrió palizas, privación del sueño, alimentación deficiente y tortura psicológica. El escrito forma parte de la demanda federal interpuesta por su esposa contra la Administración Trump ante el Tribunal de Distrito de EE. UU. para el Distrito de Maryland (U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland).
Nada más pisar CECOT, aseguran, lo obligaron a desnudarse, lo vistieron con el uniforme carcelario y, entre patadas en las piernas y golpes en cabeza y brazos, lo instaron a cambiarse con mayor rapidez. También le raparon la cabeza y lo llevaron a su celda a paso de “rana”, mientras lo golpeaban con bastones de madera. Al día siguiente presentaba “moretones y chichones visibles en todo el cuerpo”.
En esa celda, él y otros 20 salvadoreños “tuvieron que permanecer de rodillas aproximadamente de 9:00 p. m. a 6:00 a. m.; los guardias golpeaban a quien desfallecía por el cansancio”. Durante esas horas le negaron el acceso al baño, por lo que terminó ensuciándose encima.
Los internos dormían en literas metálicas sin colchón, hacinados, sin ventanas y bajo luces encendidas las 24 horas, describe el documento.
Los funcionarios penitenciarios le repetían que “lo trasladarían a celdas con pandilleros que, según ellos, lo ‘despedazarían’”. Abrego presenció agresiones entre reclusos sin intervención del personal y escuchó gritos de otras celdas que nadie acudía a silenciar.
En las primeras dos semanas perdió 14 kilos (31 libras).
El 9 de abril, Abrego y otros cuatro detenidos fueron trasladados a otro módulo de CECOT; al día siguiente, lo enviaron solo al penal Centro Industrial de Santa Ana.
Durante toda su estadía en El Salvador, denuncian sus abogados, se le negó comunicación con su familia y acceso a su defensa hasta que el senador Chris Van Hollen, demócrata de Maryland, lo visitó el 17 de abril.
En abril, la Corte Suprema de EE. UU. calificó su expulsión de “ilegal” y avaló la orden judicial que exigía su retorno. Finalmente, volvió a Estados Unidos el 6 de junio, tras un áspero pulso entre el tribunal y la Administración Trump que hizo saltar las alarmas sobre un posible desacato al poder judicial.
El Gobierno ha acusado reiteradamente al joven de 29 años de vínculos con la pandilla Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), acusaciones que su familia y defensores niegan.
Los abogados recuerdan que Abrego, oriundo de El Salvador, abandonó su país a los 16 años para huir de la violencia de las pandillas. Ingresó sin inspección a Estados Unidos en 2011 y se estableció en Maryland, donde vivía su hermano mayor, ciudadano estadounidense.
En el escrito presentado el miércoles, la defensa pide a la jueza Paula Xinis que declare que, desde su detención en ese estacionamiento de Maryland hasta su regreso, el Gobierno violó varias leyes y su derecho al debido proceso garantizado por la Quinta Enmienda.
También solicitan que Abrego sea devuelto a Maryland y que se celebre allí una audiencia de hábeas corpus.
A su llegada el mes pasado, el Departamento de Justicia anunció que enfrentaría cargos por tráfico de personas en Tennessee, acusado de transportar dentro del país a individuos sin estatus legal.
Según la acusación, habría conspirado durante nueve años para trasladar personas desde Texas hacia el interior, incluidos miembros de MS-13, algo que su esposa, Jennifer Vásquez Sura, niega rotundamente.
“Kilmar trabajaba en construcción y, en ocasiones, llevaba en su vehículo a grupos de obreros entre obras; es perfectamente posible que lo detuvieran mientras transportaba a otras personas”, declaró. “En ese momento no fue acusado de ningún delito ni citado por infracción alguna”.
El abogado de la familia, Chris Newman, sostiene que las acciones de la Administración Trump forman parte de una “campaña de desinformación y difamación contra Kilmar y su familia”.